The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA APPROPRIATIONS BILL” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S12511-S12512 on Nov. 12, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA APPROPRIATIONS BILL
Ms. MOSELEY-BRAUN. Mr. President, on Sunday evening, the Senate completed its work on H.R. 2607, a bill providing appropriations for the District of Columbia for fiscal year 1998.
I have serious concerns with several provisions of this bill--
provisions which I, in good conscience, cannot support.
Perhaps these problems could have been resolved had this bill been considered early and passed on time. There is a time to debate, however, and a time to act. This session of the 105th Congress is nearing a close, and that fact means that we must enact a D.C. funding bill--now.
One of my concerns centers on a provision included in the bill that will grant permanent residence to almost 250,000 nationals of Central America and Eastern Europe. Those covered by the provisions, including Nicaraguans, Cubans, Salvadorans, and Guatemalans, fled to the United States and sought haven during the civil wars in Central America in the 1980's. These individuals have been allowed to remain here temporarily under various Government immigration programs and court settlements.
The 1996 Immigration Act, however, denied recourse to permanent residency for most of this class. This provision grants permanent residence to these nationals on a case-by-case basis if their return would pose unusual hardship.
While I support this provision, I must once again state for the record my strong objections to the decision by the conferees to exclude approximately 18,000 Haitian refugees from this provision. This exclusion was not only patently unfair, but suggests almost a tin ear on the racial implications of this action. In the absence of a good reason for this exclusion, I can see no other justification for denying these individuals equal relief. I am certain that this is not the signal this body intended to send.
I am heartened, however, that an agreement has been reached with the Justice Department that will allow these Haitians to remain in the country until this matter is resolved legislatively. I am also encouraged by the commitment made by congressional leadership to take up this issue during the next session of Congress. I encourage all of my colleagues to support legislation that I have cosponsored, along with Senators Graham, Mack, Abraham, and Kennedy that would resolve this issue.
I am also troubled by a provision in this bill that would prohibit the District of Columbia from using local revenues to fund full reproductive health services for women.
Clearly it is within the jurisdiction of Congress to restrict Federal funds for abortion services. That decision was upheld in 1980 by the Supreme Court in the Harris versus McRea decision. In that same ruling, however, the Court clearly asserted that decisions on abortion services for poor women, financed with State funds, were within the authority of the States.
Unfortunately for the people of the District of Columbia the Court has provided no such protection. The people of this city, therefore, cannot make decisions regarding the use of locally raised revenue, for abortion services or any other purpose.
The result is that the District is used as a guinea pig for Congress' social experiments. In this instance, opponents of full access to reproductive health services, including abortion, for poor women are furthering their agenda at the expense of democracy.
Again, I would have liked to have these matters resolved before the vote, however, I am hopeful that we can rectify them in the next session.
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